


Sidelined

by terrawrites



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Emotional Hurt, Episode: s05e17 Failsafe, F/M, Female Reader, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Depression, Wally being a terrible brother, but like in the second chapter, i still suck at tagging things, kind of, mentions of torture, nothing too graphic, so for any of you guys worried about the death thing it's okay it's not real, the first one is lighthearted but then I slap you in the second one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2019-08-25 04:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16654537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terrawrites/pseuds/terrawrites
Summary: You were the younger sister of Wally West. You didn't have powers of your own, but yet you carved your way to a spot on the team anyway, desperate for even a shred of the approval and attention thrown towards your brother. You were tired of being sidelined. You weren't expecting to develop a crush on Robin, nor were you expecting for him to reciprocate your feelings. Above all, you weren't expecting Wally to ever find out how you really felt when you couldn't repress your emotions anymore.





	1. Chapter 1

You stood in the training room with your back to the wall, gaze focused on the duo sparring in the middle. Robin and Kaldur were currently going hand to hand, and you felt a slight blush as start to form the more you tracked a certain party’s moves a little more intently than the other. As much of a show as this was for you, you still tried to take as many mental notes as you could to improve your own technique.

You actually didn’t have any powers to speak of. The day Wally got his, you weren’t even in the house. Your parents had left to go to a coworker’s baby shower, and they had trusted Wally enough to keep an eye on you for a few hours. Normally, everything would have been fine, but that day Wally had locked himself in the garage as soon as their car had turned the corner, telling you not to bother him because he was working on something important. You had been very upset at not being included, so you decided you would make him worry by leaving the house. It wasn’t the smartest decision, but you were young. You ended up a few houses down, playing in someone’s front yard with a few of the neighborhood friends. All of you had jumped when you heard a loud explosion, and you could feel your heart stop beating when you saw it had come from your garage. A part of you had wondered if you would have gotten superspeed as well if you had stayed at the house, but if you were being honest, you probably would have gotten seriously injured or killed if you had. It was only because of Wally’s proximity to his chemistry kit that he had gotten his powers.

You sighed and crossed your arms again. You had always looked up to your brother, even more so after he had become Kid Flash. He would come home every time bragging about what he and Uncle Barry had done that day and even though you knew he loved you and wasn’t trying to make you feel bad, you always felt a little resentment towards him, and it did nothing to help soothe the inferiority you felt because of him. You knew your brother was smart, I mean, after all he was able to give himself super speed with a home chemistry kit. But it felt like no matter what you did you just weren’t as good as him at anything. It was because of that way of thinking, when Wally had stumbled in with Conner after infiltrating Cadmus, you made it your life goal to be a part of the team that Batman was planning. Of course, absolutely everyone in your family was against it, Wally had superspeed, you had just your fists. They were rather unamused when you brought up that Robin was your age and didn’t have any powers either. It was only after you followed Wally and Conner to the mall in secret and tried to help in fighting the Terror Twins (not that you won), that Uncle Barry had finally caved and said you could join too. He knew better than to try and argue with you, he had said before that it was like trying to convince Batman to wear bright pink.

So, you had joined the team right along with M’gann. The two of you had actually grown quite close, and she was always willing to help you practice if you needed it. You still weren’t allowed on missions, Batman had made it clear that you could join, but until you had been properly trained by Black Canary you were to remain in the cave and provide support from the main computer until she gave the all clear.

“What’s up sis?” Your brother’s voice pulled you from your thoughts, and you reluctantly pulled your gaze away from a certain boy wonder to look at him.

“Just trying to pick up some tips for my training.” You replied. You fought to keep eye contact when you saw him narrow his eyes, looking between you and the training ring.

“No.” He said after a few moments. You frowned in confusion.

“What?”

“No. I’m not allowing it.” He crossed his arms. It finally dawned on you that he had seen your blush and put two and two together. I mean, it’s not like you had planned to develop a crush on his best friend. You blamed it mostly on Robin being the only one your age on the team. It’s not like he was necessarily bad looking either, but you had tried to fight it at first for your brother’s sake. Clearly, it worked out well.

“Why not?” You threw back, a little annoyed at how he was telling you no when he had a puddle of drool under him whenever he talked to M’gann.

“Because I’m your brother! You’re too young to be getting involved with something like that! Besides, he’s a bat!”

“What’s that even supposed to mean? I haven’t said anything about how you act with M’gann!” You spared a quick glance around the room, but luckily your voices were still too low for the other members to hear you two. You clenched your jaw in frustration as he continued to look at you with a hard stare. Neither of you were willing to back down. “You can’t just police who I like!”

“I can, and I will, that’s what older brother’s do!”

“You’re so infuriating!” You threw your hands up in exasperation, turning back to watch your teammates spar. The two of you could argue for hours and still get nowhere, so you decided to end it before the whole team caught wind of your little crush. It only managed to work for about five minutes.

“Why can’t you just choose someone like Kaldur?”

“I thought you said I was too young for this! Besides, he’s way too old for me!”

“I said like Kaldur, not actually Kaldur! Were you even listening?”

“Why are you so adamant that I don’t date Robin?” You hissed.

“Because he’s my best friend, It’s weird!”

“Again, how do you think I feel about you and M’gann!”

“That’s completely different!” Now he was the one throwing his hands up in the air.

“How?”

“It just is!”

“Real mature bro.”

“I never said I was!”

“Having a little sibling quarrel?” You immediately snapped your mouth shut and tried hard to fight the rising blush when you heard Robin come up to you.

“Yeah but it’s over now, I think we both made our point.” Wally said, turning to his friend while giving you one last warning look. You just rolled your eyes. “Wanna go get snacks and play games?”

“Sure.” Robin said after looking between the two of you, probably trying to decipher the looks being shared between the two of you. “Just give me a moment to speak to your sister.”

“Whatever you have to say to her, you can say in front of me.” He protested.

“Oh come on Wally.” You groaned, “What’s he going to do? Carry me off into the pale light of the training arena?”

You had to fight back another blush from Robin’s laughter, and you saw your brother grit his teeth before finally giving in. “Fine, but don’t take too long, or I’ll eat your half of the snacks.”

“You do that anyway!” Robin yelled at the speedster. Wally gave you one last look before turning away and walking into the common area of the cave. A few seconds later, you felt your phone go off in your hand with a text from your brother. It simply said ‘My friend. Go away.’ Typical. You thought, glancing back up to the Boy Wonder.

“S-so, w-what did you want to talk to me about.” You mentally kicked yourself for stuttering. You hoped you weren’t being painfully obvious right now. But considering Batman was his mentor, it was more likely he knew anyway.

He looked nervous for a few moments, and you had to admit it was very adorable. “I was thinking that maybe the two of us could start sparring together, you know, one on one sessions.”

There was no stopping your blush now. Your only solace was that you could see one on him too if you looked hard enough, and you did. Often. “O-Okay. I would love to.”

His entire face brightened up at your response. “Great, it’s a date then!” With that, he quickly turned and ran out of the room. You stood in the now empty training room for a few more moments, trying in vain to get your cheeks to cool down. Eventually, your lips split into a wide grin, and one of your last thoughts before leaving the room to go seek out M’gann was that Wally was so going to hate you both for this. Yet you couldn’t find it in yourself to care.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who recognizes the first chapter it was part of mine and Rae's 1k followers milestone event but someone had requested a part 2 so here we are. I do have a part 3 in the works as of one lovely anon in our 1.5k followers event that I will hopefully get to soon! Please feel free to leave me feedback as I'm always looking to improving this story and my writing!

              Tears were streaming down your vision. Things were going just fine up until today. Over the last few months yours and Dick’s relationship had steadily been improving. Your “sparring” sessions had slowly become more and more like actual dates, whenever the two of you could slip away from your older brother. The team had gotten a new member, Artemis, and you had taken to her quite fast, as she didn’t let Wally get away with anything. All of that progress was now for nothing. Artemis was dead, the entire League was dead, millions of people were dead, and more and more were being added to the toll with each passing moment. Black Canary had only recently cleared you for light missions, you weren’t anywhere near ready for something like this. These invaders that had appeared over Earth mere hours ago now spanned the whole globe. Your brother was adamant that they were only being teleported with those beams that were fired, but something inside you knew that it wasn’t the case. In your mind, Wally was just scrambling for any possible excuse to ignore the fact that it was likely almost everyone they knew and loved were now gone.

              You felt another fresh wave of tears fall from your eyes, your sobs muffled behind your gloved hand. This isn’t what you wanted when you begged to be a hero along with your brother. You knew that you would likely see some horrible things, it came with the job, but never in your life did you believe that you would watch every single member of the League vaporized in front of your eyes. You hoped your family was okay, but it was highly likely that it was down to just you and Wally. What you really wanted was for him to comfort you right now, even just a simple lie like “everything will be alright” from him would do wonders for the streaks running down your cheeks right now. But that wouldn’t happen. Ever since that small argument in the training room, the relationship between you had been steadily getting worse. If you were in the mood to be even more honest with yourself, the deterioration of your relationship had begun in earnest when you had first insisted on joining the team. Your relationship with your parents suffered from it as well. To them, you could never be Wally. You were always someone lesser than him, someone less capable in every way. The only people who ever seemed to see you as yourself and not just an inferior version of your brother was Dick and Black Canary, and one of them was no longer alive.

              You were shaken back to the present when you felt a hand on your shoulder. Looking up, your watery eyes me the concerned gaze of Dick. His expression unguarded like it always was around you, and his worry for you written in every feature. It only made the knots in your stomach tighten even further. “Like Kaldur said we’ll have time to mourn later, right now we need to be one hundred percent focused on the mission and on helping save as many people as we can.” His voice was firm, but there were undertones of emotion in them, betraying the calm demeanor her was trying to keep up. He missed everyone too, and you understood perfectly. You nodded, wiping away the fresh tears that had fallen and took a few breaths to steel yourself like he had taught you. By the time the bio-ship reached the Hall of Justice you were ready.

              There was a small contingent of soldiers ready at the entrance, greeting the team with cheers as you all exited the bio-ship. Quickly, Kaldur ordered you and the rest of the team to split into groups, following the intel you guys had gathered in the Arctic with Artemis’ and Wolf’s sacrifice to salvage as many of the canons as you could for the military so that they may be used in a future counter attack. Once all the canons in the immediate area were gathered an accounted for, you and the team made your way into the crumbling structure of the Hall.

              There was a solemn silence as everyone picked over the ruins, searching for anything that might give you guys a clue, or aid you in the coming fight. You were still lost in your own thoughts, not really paying attention to your surroundings. Your foot caught in some of the rubble, and you fell forward, rolling down until you landed with a  _thump_  at the base. Before you were one of the fallen statues of a League member. The sight of it set you back into turmoil, knowing that you’d never see them again, and that it was likely one, if not more of you could be joining them. You pushed yourself up into a sitting position, bringing your knees closer to you as the tears started to fall once more. Robin was quick to come to your side, having been keeping an eye on you since this whole thing started.

              “Are you alright?” His voice was quiet and gentle.

              “You shouldn’t coddle her.” Wally’s voice cut in before you could nod or voice your answer. “She knew what could happen and yet she wanted to be a hero anyway. She needs to learn how to be tougher, now that she has no choice.”

              Dick looked appalled, as did Kaldur who happened to be nearby. “This is your  _sister_  Wally. Besides, how could  _any_  of us be prepared for our mentors to die right in front of us?”

              “They’re not dead!  _None_  of them are!”

              “Yes they are!” You cried out, turning to face your brother. “All of them are dead but you’re just stuck in denial! Wouldn’t it be just a little too convenient if all of them were still alive?”

              Wally was about to say something else, but M’gann cut off the argument. She had lifted up the fallen statue of her uncle, and to all of your surprise, Martian Manhunter himself was underneath. He stood up, clutching the side of his head. You could tell he was confused. You were glad to see him, like the rest of the team was, but something felt off about it still. You had learned to trust your instincts, but even though you still thought the whole League was dead, seeing Martian Manhunter alive in front of you brought a faint spark of hope to your broken and battered heart.

              The rest of the conversation was a blur. J’onn had mentioned something about the beams from the invaders, which prompted Wally and Dick to race outside. You remained in the Hall, helping M’gann with her uncle. Eventually, you sat off to the side, looking down at your black and yellow clad boots. You only looked up when you felt a hand once again on your shoulder. Your watery eyes met Kaldur’s concerned ones.

              “Do not take what your brother has said to heart. He only grieves for the death of our friends and mentors, though I agree that he should not be taking it out on you.”

              You sniffed. “Thanks, Kaldur, but it’s nothing I’m not already used to hearing from him by now.” Kaldur looked taken back by your words, but before he could say anything else, Wally and Dick had returned, the former looking noticeably brighter than when he had left.

              “It’s like I said before!” He exclaimed, looking around the group. “The beams from those weapons are Zeta beams! They’re only teleporting everyone,  _not_ disintegrating them!” He turned to you, his excited expression becoming one of condescension. “You see? This is why I keep saying you won’t make it. You refuse to look at the bigger picture, or even search for the tiniest shred of hope. You’re too likely to just accept things at face value. This is why you leave it to the experts.”

              “ _Enough Kid._ ” Everyone looked to Kaldur with a mix of uneasiness and fear. His voice had taken on a different tone then, one none of you had ever heard from he mild mannered and polite leader before. His voice dripped malice, and it sent a chill down your spine even though it wasn’t directed at you.

              The tense moment was cut by one of the soldiers running into the building, his voice frantic. “Just received word that there’s another wave incoming!” All of you quickly rushed out just as the next wave began to appear. A quick survey of the sheer numbers on the opposing side, and Kaldur was ordering a strategic retreat, knowing that to go up against so many would be the demise of you all.

              The plan was to Zeta back to the cave. Unfortunately, Martian Manhunter could only send one of you back at a time. The soldiers set up near the entrance while J’onn issued the override command. The rest of you took up a defensive stance, ready to attack while Miss Martian prepared to head through. You hung back, but you could feel Dick’s worried glance when he noticed you weren’t preparing to go through after M’gann. Kaldur quickly rushed him through and sent Wally after him. Just before your brother was to walk into the Zeta tube, the door blew in, debris flying inwards. You watched like a deer in headlights as one of the boulders came straight for you, unable to move.

              You were pushed before anyone else could react, one of the soldiers, the one who mistook Conner for Superman, taking your place as you were moved from the path. Your senses came back to you as you caught yourself on the ground, and before Wally could go to you, Kaldur through him through the Zeta tube. You shook yourself, helping Conner stand the now injured soldier up.

              “He goes next.” Conner declared, pushing the injured man forward.

              “Fine. Then the two of you.” You nodded to Kaldur, and stood near him, readying your gloves just in case.

              Your suit was relatively new, Dick having helped you design and put it together, as well as come up with a code name. The entire outfit was black Kevlar with yellow lightning bolts on it. The standard yellow lightning insignia of your Uncle and your brother rested in the middle. Dick had also given you one of his extra utility belts, that he had stocked himself. The idea for your gauntlets was his as well. He wanted to keep the theme of your family, so they were capable of producing electric currents at non-lethal levels. “Just enough to give you an extra edge” he had told you with a wink. You had rolled your eyes then, but it had saved you more times than you cared to admit at this point.

              You quickly dropped and adjusted your gauntlets, switching them to a new combat setting you had wanted to try. You threw your fist at the air and watched with wonder as the resulting shock wave hurtled towards the busted entryway, a satisfying explosion reaching your ears. It was short lived, as another ship had taken its place in seconds and aimed its canon right at you.

              “Go now!” Kaldur pushed you out of the way and you stumbled back through the zeta tube, watching in horror as the beam struck Kaldur, disintegrating him right before your eyes.

               **Recognized. Thunder Strike B06, Martian Manhunter 07.**

Your eyes were wide with horror and shock as the cave materialized around you. “Where’s Kaldur?” Dick was the one to ask, but as soon as his eyes met yours, tears once again streaming down your face over your mask, and he and everyone else knew what had happened.

              “He d-died s-saving me.” You choked out.

              No one said anything, but it was clear that all felt grief at your statement. He wasn’t only your leader, by now he was your friend, and he too was gone. Dick and M’gann looked at you in sympathy. Conner only looked downwards, but Wally fixed you with a hard glare. It was clear he was placing the blame on what he deemed to be your ineptness. A brief moment of silence was held for your fallen leader, before Dick was forced to step up to command.

              You tried your best to steel your emotions again as he spoke. The mission was clear, infiltrate the mothership in Smallville, rescue the League members if they were there (read: alive), and blow it to smithereens. You would be with Dick and your brother planting the explosives on the ships core, Conner would be providing a distraction while M’gann and J’onn would be infiltrating and securing your entry point. You felt your heart clench in anguish yet again as Dick elected Conner to be the one to sacrifice himself for your guaranteed entry. It was clear that your brother still held hope that the beam was only a teleportation one, but he seemed to be the only one to think so. One look at Dick and the others, and it was clear in their hearts that they too believed everyone was truly gone.

              At Dick’s order, you broke off from the group, beginning to arm yours and his extra utility belts with enough explosives to detonate the core of the ship. The rest of the team was busy broadcasting a message of hope to whoever remained on Earth. If your heart wasn’t already so heavy with the truth, the speech they had prepared would have given even you hope to continue fighting. Dick joined you after the speech, silently helping you strap the devices to the inside of the belts. It was clear he wanted to speak, but he didn’t know how to start, if the way he kept opening and closing his mouth was any indication.

              You turned to him, ready to aid him, when he suddenly rushed forward, crashing his lips against your own. You were startled, eyes wide with shock before the realization of what he was doing caught up with you, and you let your eyes fall shut as you kissed him back with everything you had in you.

              You two only broke apart when the need for air was to great to keep going, even then you only pulled back enough to rest your foreheads against each other. Tears were slipping down your face once again, and he brought his hands up to cup your check on either side, his thumbs brushing away the tears. “I’ve been wanting to do that since I fist asked you to spar with me, but I’ve been too afraid to.” He was whispering, but you could hear the grief in his voice. “It’s a shame we’ll never get to see where this goes after today.”

              He was crying now too, and you brought your hands up to mirror his, starting to brush away his tears. “Wally seems hellbent on believing that everyone’s still alive.”

              He laughed, but it was dry and humorless. “We both know how this is going to end.” He voice was wavering now, threatening to break apart completely. “I don’t regret anything you know. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. The only thing I would change this time, is saying how much I love you sooner.”

              You choked back a sob, forcing yourself to keep it together. “I love you too.” You two stayed together until you absolutely had to pull apart, giving each other one last kiss before taking a moment to compose yourselves.

              Just before he left to go rejoin the group, your hand caught his wrist, prompting him to turn back to you. “I’ll be waiting for you when this is all over. No matter what happens.” He nodded, and then left. You took several deep breaths once you were alone, and when you were certain that you would remain composed, you joined Dick and the rest of the team at the center of the cave.

              A few hours later, you were at the edge of Smallville with what remained of your team. You watched with a heavy heart as Dick called out the first team to deploy. You turned to Conner before he was called and reached out, squeezing his hand. “It’s been an honor, Superboy.” He turned to you and flashed you a rare smile, ruffling your hair. It was supposed to be reassuring, but it didn’t do much to help you.

              You turned your head when M’gann gave the confirmation through the mind link, and Conner threw himself at the ship. You didn’t want to watch another one of your friends die. You were quickly scooped up by your brother along with Dick, racing towards the now open launching bays as wave after wave was deployed to fight Conner.

              You felt your stomach drop a moment as he launched the tree of you in the air, before rolling as you all impacted against the cold metal of the ship. You winced as the jump had caused you to land on your leg, but you got up anyway, ignoring the pain coursing through your right leg.

              “Are you hurt?” It was Dick who asked, noticing that you now had a slight limp.

              “I just landed wrong. It’s nothing that’ll stop me from completing the mission.” Dick nodded, although he still cast one last solemn glance your way. Both of you knew that your job had just changed. Originally you were supposed to be the one to make it back out of the ship with Wally and both Martians while Dick stayed behind to guard the charges. It was something he and you had discussed in private on the way to Smallville. Both of you had agreed that it was too risky to leave them undefended, even with setting the timer to the lowest possible number. Now that your leg was injured, there was no way you would be able to make your way back out of the ship and continue to fight, even if your brother carried you out.

              You were quickly joined by Martian Manhunter and M’gann, and when the five of you were halfway to the core, M’gann collapsed with a cry. You didn’t need her to say anything to know that Conner was gone, and when both J’onn and Dick confirmed that the beam was indeed a disintegration beam and that there were no other life signatures on the ship, you couldn’t bring yourself to cry anymore tears.

              You were only able to cast your brother a sympathetic glance, knowing that while he wouldn’t outright admit it, he held feelings for Artemis, before running the best you could after the rest of the team, leaving Wally to bring up the rear. You didn’t know if it was a good or a bad thing that he hadn’t even noticed your injury.

              You were at the ship’s core before you knew it, and you took a deep breath as you got ready for what was coming. You and Dick raced forward, him getting ready to pass the charges over to you, when the gravitational pull of the power core caught you both off guard. You two were quickly being pulled in, and even Wally racing in to try and help wasn’t enough to make a difference. It was only Dick’s quick thinking with his grappling hook, and M’gann’s telekinesis that stopped the three of you from slamming into the side of the core.

              Once the three of you were securely standing on the power core, Dick finally unhooked the bombs, placing them and pressing a few of the buttons to prime the trigger.

              “You knew the whole time what we were really here for.” Wally said, looking to his friend.

              “Press this button to start the countdown. Wait three seconds after we leave before pressing it to ensure we’ll have enough time to get to the door. Once pressed you’ll have to defend it for four minutes.” He didn’t answer Wally, having a hard-enough time knowing that he was giving you orders for your death.

              “I understand. I won’t let you guys down.” You responded, your voice surprisingly even. It was just a farce though, inside you were still a whirling mess of emotions.

              “Wait  _what_? What do you mean you won’t let us down? You’re coming with us!” Wally’s voice was starting to sound panicked, and you had to do your best not to break.

              “I’m not coming with you. I hurt my leg coming in from that jump. Even if you were to carry me out of here I would be no use running or fighting in the field. I’d just die then instead.” You felt your heart break again when you heard M’gann start to cry.

              “Don’t be stupid! You’re coming with us! Tell her Robin!”

              “I’m afraid I can’t KF.” Dick’s voice betrayed the pain he was feeling.

              “Someone needs to be here to guard the bomb. Since I’m injured and can’t get out on my own, I make the best candidate to stay behind. I knew coming in that this would likely be a one-way mission for me.”

              “You would sacrifice yourself over some delusional need to prove yourself a hero?”

              “I never wanted to  _be_  a hero!” You shouted, tears starting to stream down your face. “Not at first. But I was never  _good enough_  for them. I was never as good as  _you_  at anything! They’re always so proud of you, and I see the way they look at you, even more so now that you became a hero. All I ever wanted was for them to look at me like they do to you!” You hiccuped, and your voice broke as you kept speaking. “This whole time, I just wanted you to tell me that things were going to be okay, even if we all knew it was a lie. We used to be so close when we were little. But you too stopped caring about me when you found out about Uncle Barry. I just wanted us to be close again like we used to be. I just wanted us to be a _family_  again. If this is the only way to do that… If  _dying_  is what it takes, then I’ll finally have what I’ve always wanted.”

              “No… no no no no no no!” You had turned away from him, knowing that if you looked back you would change your mind. He was frantic, you could tell, most likely with tears streaming down from his face. He was calling your name and yelling that he was sorry and to not leave him too. You felt what was left of your heart shatter as his voice grew ever quieter, until finally he was forced by the others out of the room.

              You counted, waiting three seconds after you had last heard your brother before pressing the button for the countdown to begin, confirming it over the mind link one last time before you felt M’gann pull herself from your mind, likely as a favor to Wally so that he wouldn’t be linked for your death like she had been for Conner.

              The room was suddenly swarmed with what you assumed to be worker drones, as well as a few of the battleships. You dropped into a defensive stance, glaring at the enemy. “I hope you burn in hell you sons of bitches!” You screeched, using your gauntlets to fire electrified shock waves at as many of the ships as you could, ducking and rolling the best you could while still ensuring the bombs were protected. Quickly, the injury in your leg proved to much, and you shrieked as it gave out under you. You stared at one of the battleships as it charged up it’s beam. True to your words, you didn’t feel fear or panic or anything as the beam was fired. You knew your parents would have been proud of the way you sacrificed yourself to save your brother and the rest of the world. You felt at peace as the world around you ceased to be and you drifted off into nothing.

              With a jolt, you sat up looking around the room in a panic. You didn’t recognize the room you were in. This looked nothing like the power core of the mothership that you had died on mere moments ago. You felt a hand on your shoulder and when you turned to the source, you were met with Black Canary. You frowned in confusion, before all the memories came rushing back as Batman explained that you were only in a simulation.

              Your heart started to beat faster as the realization dawned on you. Everything you went through, everything you said to your brother coming at you. Tears were starting to form at the corners of your eyes. You weren’t ready to deal with the aftermath of everything you had admitted to your brother in that moment. You turned your head to look at him, and saw the grief and guilt written across his face when he looked back at you. You didn’t want this. You couldn’t deal with this. He called your name, but you stayed rooted to your spot. Black Canary had picked up that something was wrong by now, as had Dick. It was only Wally starting to make his way over to you that finally broke you from your fear.

              You got up, ignoring the calls of your name not only from your brother and Dick, but from everyone else in the room as well, and did the one thing your family always did best:  _you ran_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I ended it prematurely because I was starting to run into writer’s block in the last scene and I didn’t want to take more time in making you all wait. Normally don’t like bringing in people who haven’t shown up in YJ but I made a small exception for Leslie Thompkins only because I didn’t know how they could have explained the situation to a regular hospital staff. To the anon that wanted more M’gann/Artemis/Reader friendship I’ll gladly put it in part 4 if people want another part when I’m taking requests again! However I only accept requests from my tumblr since this site doesn't have a great system for that.
> 
> (This was also part of the blog's 1.5k Followers Milestone, so it will be appearing in that collection as well)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The request: I would like to request a part 3 to Sidelined please! I kind of like your example scenario you gave so maybe the reader has sort of been fighting crime on her own while trying to avoid her brother and the team and maybe she runs into Sportsmaster or someone from The Light and gets captured and tortured for information or something before Dick ends up tracking her down and rescuing her or something. Maybe Wally finds out as well I don't know maybe another anon can give you more to work with!/ Sidelined Pt. 2 Anon, here! I'd like to add on some ideas for Part 3! How about showing the immediate aftermath of Part 2 where the reader talks to Black Canary about how she still feels traumatized from the simulation? I can totally see her completely avoiding Wally and the rest of their family while she tries to cope with her trauma and feelings. I'd also like to see her friendships with M'gann and Artemis explored more!

              Adrenaline coursed through your veins, the sounds of fists connecting with flesh and grunts of pain filling the alleyway. Your breath came out in sharp pants, billowing out in front of you in the cold autumn air. You had never felt more alive than you had in this moment. You danced around the crooks, there one moment and gone the next, flowing around their attacks as if you were made of liquid. Above you, the sky was clear. Stars glittered overhead like specks of crystal.

              “Damn bitch,” the one who you assumed was the leader of the group spat, blood hitting the pavement from where your fist had split open his lip. “someone kill her already!”

              You took in your surroundings, watching as the crooks surrounded you in the narrow back alley. You weren’t nervous at all; in fact, you were quite the opposite. A smirk made its way onto your lips as you stared down the ringleader through your mask.

              “I wouldn’t look so damn smug if I were you,  _girl_.” He spat, taking a few steps towards you. “We’ve got the upper hand now, if you hadn’t already noticed ‘yer completely surrounded. Ya’ might as well give it up, ya’ can’t take us all down on ‘yer own.”

              You chuckled low; your smirk widened ever so slightly. “Can’t I though?” On cue, several smoke pellets dropped to the ground at your feet from the rooftops, activating on contact with the asphalt and shrouded you from their view. As soon as the smoke concealed you, you jumped into action, taking out legs and arms alike as the crooks stumbled around blinded, coughing through the smoke. They swung with reckless abandon in any direction they believed you were, and you used that to your advantage. Behind you through the smoke, you could hear the others that you weren’t focusing on going down. Good. The faster you wrapped this up the better.

              The two of you worked in tandem through the ever-thinning cloud of smoke, flipping and kicking and punching, and everything in between until the last of them fell. Then came your least favorite part: tying them up. This was the one part you couldn’t rush, if not done properly they could escape before the authorities arrived. So even though you operated with a small window of time, you forced yourself to work as diligently as you could. Making sure your knots were secure, you were pulled by your ally further back into the alley: time was up.

              You let yourself be led, almost tripping over the uncovered sewer grate in your haste. Just before the smoke cleared and you secured the manhole cover over your head, you could see the tips of two pairs of boots: one yellow and one red. You turned to your ally again as he led you down the twisting maze of sewer tunnels, trying not to breathe in deeper than you wee forced to at the stench that permeated the air. Sewer crawling was high up on your list of things you hated about your job.

              After a good twenty minutes of running through tunnels and making sure your trail was unfollowable, you were brought back to the surface, much to your delight, and back into the (relatively) clean air of Central City. “Cut it a little close didn’t you Rob?” You turned to your boyfriend as you slipped into the building next to the two of you. “One more second and they would have caught the two of us.”

              “We made it out, didn’t we? Besides, it wouldn’t have been as close as it was if you didn’t toy with them like always.” He snapped back, but it didn’t hold any real heat to it. You know he always enjoyed the thrill of  _almost_  being caught, slipping away at the last moment. The two of you started to go through the motions, taking off your gear and cleaning up. The old warehouse you were set up in definitely screamed “in need of repair” but the lights more or less worked and so did the water if you hit the pipes hard enough. You weren’t complaining against your hideout of choice when your only alternative was to go back to the cave, or even worse, your house. Just the thought sent a shiver up your spine and an unpleasant churning of anxiety in your stomach.

              As if sensing your thoughts Dick, now sans his Robin costume turned to you. “You can’t run from this forever you know.”

              Your lips turned down into a frown. You two had been going through this conversation more and more now since he first ran into you after you had run from the cave. You were angry still, and terrified, hiding in some of the worst places in Central City against your better judgement, anywhere that you knew your uncle wouldn’t look for you. Of course, Dick had been able to find you immediately, you weren’t good at living on the streets and it showed… and made you an easy target for some of the worst to try their luck at what few meager belongings you had swiped from your home. After saving you from a fight you hadn’t been in a situation to take alone, you had only just convinced him to help you keep hiding, just until you were ready. He agreed, albeit reluctantly, and against his better judgement, but only on the condition that you eventually go back home or at least back to the cave and talk this out with someone. There was also the bit about him keeping an eye on you as well under Batman’s nose but that was the part you cared the least about. Fighting crime only got better when you knew your boyfriend was with you giving you a helping hand from the shadows.

              Now here you were in this shithole of an abandoned building, a few weeks out from the incident with him pestering you again that you needed to go back home. Having him around had started to lose its luster, even if deep down you knew he was right. “Who says I can’t? I’m doing well enough so far, aren’t I?”

              “Only because I’m keeping an eye out for you. Look, you know I’m only saying this because I care about you. You can’t keep running from this forever. If you don’t go to them, I’ll… tell them where to find you.” Dick had placed his hand on your arm, his blue eyes boring into your own filled with nothing but genuine concern for you. Nevertheless, you felt panic begin to settle in, your heart thundering against your chest as your flight response kicked in.

              “You can’t! You wouldn’t!” You took a few steps back from him, your hands shaking at your sides as you balled them into fists.

He sighed, grabbing his shades off the counter. “I can and I will, but not yet. I can promise you maybe a week, but living like this? It’s not the right way to handle things. I  _know_  you know that.” He slipped his shades on, giving you a quick kiss on the cheek before heading to the door with a simple “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

              You took a few deep breaths to calm yourself down from the panic you had worked yourself into. You still weren’t ready to face your parents, your  _brother_ , of all people. Your nights were still haunted by the way he screamed your name while M’gann and Dick dragged him out of the core room during the simulation, the look on his face when you all woke back up in the cave. Maybe you were a coward but having to confront the aftermath of your bottled-up feelings of inadequacy was never something you had thought you were ever going to do. Hell, if M’gann hadn’t fucked over everyone’s mind in the simulation you wouldn’t have even blown up like you did in the first place. You would have just kept everything in, maybe lived on happily enough with Dick, maybe not, but you would have been at least somewhat content to just continue to on like you had grown somewhat comfortable with, always having to fight for every scrap of attention you could steal away from Wally’s spotlight. Yeah sure your situation always sucked, and left you crying into your pillows many nights, but you were  _used_  to it. You were pretty sure the look of devastation on Wally’s face hurt a lot more than everything you had endured up until now.

              You didn’t realize you had started crying again until you heard the distinct  _plik_  of a tear hitting the concrete at your feet. You sucked a quick breath in and used the back of your hand to wipe at your eyes. Even now the thought of your almost nonexistent relationship with your brother and your family had you breaking down, your heart wrenching and the tears cascading, yet this time it was amplified by the look of Wally’s face of complete devastation. You sighed and gave a halfhearted sniffle. There was no use in you getting angry at M’gann like that, it wasn’t her fault, not really.

              You heaved a sigh and wiped at your tears. In truth, you were tired, and not just physically. You were also completely and utterly mentally exhausted. Maybe to some degree Dick was right, that things would improve if you went back. Nonetheless you shook your head, dragging your feet to your makeshift bed in the next room. Sleep first, then you could wallow about your situation some more in the morning.

              As night turned into day, then again and again until the days began to meld together again, you still did nothing about changing your current situation. Your week was up, but Dick always was a bit of a pushover with you. Nonetheless, Dick was starting to hound you more and more now, increasingly exasperated at your actions. “Just this last patrol, I promise.” You’d tell him. Well that “last patrol” started almost a week ago, and your boyfriend was running out of patience.

              The two of you were as usual out amongst the streets and rooftops, though this time your destination would take you to the shipyard. You had been tracking weapons deals across the city for almost this whole time now. It was something you had noticed upon overheard conversations between your brother and uncle and noticed a faint underlying pattern between the seemingly random deals. They had brushed you off when you confronted them about it, but not Dick. He had listened to your theory, and even agreed that you sounded like you were onto something. It was through his skills as a budding detective that the two of you had started to uncover the gang behind the deals, hitting those on the streets at every chance. Only a few talked, and they were the ones that knew the least, but between the two of you, a case was slowly being built. Tonight was supposed to be one of their biggest deals yet, and you couldn’t pass up the opportunity to not only get more information about the one behind all of this, but also to keep a lot of dangerous weapons from falling into the wrong hands.

              “Thunderstrike, do you have eyes on them?” Robin’s voice rang out in your comm. You peered around the mast of the ship you were using for cover, scanning the place the deal was supposed to go down. Below, you could just make out the faint shadows of the thugs milling around the dock. Switching to night vision, you were able to count an additional three that you hadn’t seen before.

              “Twelve so far.”

              “That’s half as many as there were last count. I think it’s safe to say we have the right place. I’m almost in position to get a better idea of what we’re dealing with.”

              “Copy.” You took your hand away from the comm and kept an eye as more and more thugs seemed to appear out of nowhere. You could feel your stomach dropping with each new person to show. Your chances were looking increasingly slim, even with Robin at your back. “Robin.”

              “I know. This isn’t looking good.” There was a brief pause before Robin spoke again. “It looks like some of them have patches on their jackets. I can’t get a good look from here. Can you?”

              “I can try hang on.” You peered around the mast again, zooming in with a new feature on your mask courtesy yet again of your boyfriend. It wasn’t perfect, everything was still slightly blurry, but you were still able to just make out the design on the patch. “I’ve got it. It looks like…” Your blood turned to ice. “Oh no.”

              “Thunderstrike?”

              “It’s them, Robin.” You heard him swear, followed by a quick “I’ll be right there” before the comm went dead. You slipped back into your hiding spot, trying to gather yourself. The Brass Ravens was their name. A new and upcoming weapons gang that seemed to take Central City by storm over night. Your Uncle Barry and Wally had been on their case for months now, but they always proved just a little too good at covering their tracks, leaving nothing more than the tiniest scraps behind for your uncle to pick up. All of this suddenly made a lot more sense now. Operating through unmarked “front gangs” was typical of their MO, allowing the real gang to keep their distance from the public and operate largely unhindered. The fact that their “core” members were actually making an appearance gave away just how big and important this deal tonight was going to be.

              Robin appeared beside you just as you had finished your last thought. His face was a mixture of grim reality and panic. “We need to bail.”

That wasn’t what you were expecting. “What do you mean we need to bail? We can’t just let them go through with their deal!” You hissed at him.

              “Well we certainly can’t fight them on our own!” He snapped back. “We’d get killed for sure!”

              “There must be something we can do! This is the best break we’ve gotten on this case ever! If we can just get one of the marked gang members  _maybe_  we can actually get some useful information. I can’t just walk away from this.” Maybe you were being stubborn, irrational, whatever, but you knew deep down it would be wrong to walk away and do nothing while a deal like this would put countless innocents in danger. You would never be able to forgive yourself if you knowingly let that happen.

              “I’m not suggesting we do nothing, we bail and leave a beacon for other league members to intercept, draw them to the deal and let them handle it.” He said, crossing his arms across his chest.

              “Will they even get here in time?”

              Robin hesitated, and though it was just for a brief moment, it gave you the answer you needed: there wasn’t one. You stood up. “I’m going in whether you’re there to back me up or not.”

              The sharp hiss of your real name startled you into looking at him. “Listen to me! This is serious, not some small-time gang establishing their territory. These people are the real deal, and way above  _both_  you and me! Going in there will just get both of us killed, and I’m not going to just sit here and watch you die again!” Your eyes were wide with shock at his outburst. The way his hands clenched on your upper arms, the slight tremble to his voice and frame. He was hurting, just as you had been. You felt the guilt wash over you instantaneously. You had been so caught up in your own issues that you hadn’t even once thought about how traumatizing the failsafe mission must have been for him as well. To believe that everyone he had known and cared about was dead, and some by his orders. You never thought about how he might have felt about knowing he left you to die in the core of the ship.

              “I just can’t…” His voice was even lower now, and you hated how broken it sounded.

              “I’m so sorry.” You whispered; your own head bowed in shame. “I spent so much time stuck in my own pity that I didn’t realize how you must have felt.” He opened his mouth to speak, but you pushed his arms off you. “But I won’t put innocents in danger. With no guarantee that the League will get here in time, I’m going in.”

              He called your name again and this time grabbed your wrist. “Don’t, please.”

              “I would never be able to forgive myself if they got away because the League didn’t get here in time, Dick. This is the only option. Drop the beacon, I’ll buy as much time as I can.” He moved to stop you again, but this time you were ready. As his other arm moved to restrain you, you grabbed and twisted him around, pushing him off the edge of your perching place so he’d have to grapple to safety. You felt horrible for doing it, but the time he’d spend getting back up to your hiding spot would give you enough time to move in.

              And that’s what you did. One moment you were perched on the edge of the clearing, the next you were gone, hidden in the shadows as you called on every last bit of training you had in you. You picked off the guards along the edges one by one, but you knew that your job was only going to get more and more difficult despite shortening the numbers gap between you and them. The guards you were incapacitating were the unmarked ones, the weakest and least trained members. The gang members in the middle all carried the patches. You found yourself hoping for the first time in a long while you’d see your Uncle before you had to go into the open.

              However as in your usual case of luck, it was not on your side. You don’t remember much about the following series of events, but you did know that you were easily, and laughably unmatched. You did your best, but in just a few short minutes, you were out cold. As everything faded to black you thought you heard Dick in the distance, but you were unable to process it before you were completely down for the count.

*****

              The first thing you registered upon waking up was the pounding of your head, the agonizing throb at your temples and where you (eventually) remembered being struck. You couldn’t suppress the groan of pain that escaped you. Nausea crashed over you as you swayed in your spot, your stomach twisting and churning and threatening to upheave at every pulsating jab of pain. Thinking was difficult, but you forced yourself to calm, and gather your bearings to the best of your abilities. Sweat broke out along the expanse of your skin with the effort of pushing past your pounding head and extreme nausea. That’s how you deduced that you were still in costume, sans your gloves and (presumably your utility belt (You still hadn’t been able to work yourself up to opening your eyes yet). Concussion. You  _definitely_  had a concussion.

              Right in that moment, you noticed you weren’t alone in the room. Your stomach became a pitfall (albeit a still churning one, fucking nausea). There were slow footsteps in time with the pulsating in your head moving around you in a circle.

              “Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to join us.” The voice came from the wrong direction of the footsteps. Not the person in the room with you then, as the voice came from in front of you slightly above. There was a hint of static to it, a speaker then. So, who was the guy circling you, a goon? It seemed the most likely. This meant the voice in the speaker was the one in charge. Not so good then. If the boss was speaking to you via a speaker that meant there was almost certainly an accompanying camera meant to watch you. This would make any attempt at escape a lot more difficult. “Now, normally I’m not one to cut to the chase, however, I’m on somewhat of a time crunch at this time so I’ll make myself perfectly clear: you’re going to give me all the information you have about the Flash and his little League buddies. Then you’re going to tell me everything about your little gaggle of will be’s.”

              You felt your anger rise. Like  _hell_  you would ever tell this sleaze bag anything. However, at the moment your stomach held you back from saying the rather colorful string of words that you wanted. The footsteps stopped, and suddenly a hand was gripping your chin, holding your head up so that his rancid breath rolled across your face and assaulted your senses. “You better answer when ‘ta boss is talkin’ ‘ta ya.”

              Well, he did ask for it. The moment you opened your mouth, the contents of your stomach proceeded to evacuate you and project themselves all over his face. Your satisfaction was drowned out by the booming laughter coming from the speaker above.

              “Ha! Serves you right not following my orders!” The laughter eventually subsided, and you could hear a warmer tone creeping into his voice which had your hair standing on end. “Please forgive my rather dull-minded hireling Jared, he was instructed to bring you back unharmed, but clearly my orders need to be further…  _ingrained_.” The way his voice dipped into maliciousness at the end sent a bolt of fear through you. Not much was known about the leader of the Brass Ravens, save that he seemed to have zero motive for his actions. Nothing seemed to matter to the guy, as he had sacrificed men, money, deals, anything and everything while your Uncle had been trying to build a case against him and trace him down. Could it just all be for his own enjoyment? Possibly, but that thought threatened a more sickening reality that you really wished wouldn’t come true. The world was bad enough with the Joker, it didn’t need another, arguably more terrifying one.

              “Ah but you’re no use to us concussed as you are, little one.” The man cooed, his voice now back to its warmer tone. We’ll continue this once you’re all better. Don’t worry, you’ll be well taken care of in the meantime.” You didn’t like that, you certainly didn’t  _trust_ that, but at the moment you had no choice but to be at this man’s mercy. “Oh before I forget, Jared?” You saw the man in question stiffen as his name was called. “Report to me immediately so we can discuss your disobedience.” Jared’s facial expression certainly didn’t help placate your fear for your own well-being. You actually felt bad for him, and you hoped that it wasn’t as bad as it sounded, though you knew it was likely worse.

              True to his words, you were actually treated fairly well. Shortly after Jared had left, another person entered. This individual wearing medical gear, proceeded to check you over as best as he could without removing any of your costume. “Boss’ orders” was all he told you when you managed to ask why. None of your situation made a lot of sense, and it kept you on edge despite the three hot meals that tasted admittedly amazing and quality medical care. Your concussion wasn’t too terribly serious, and you were estimated to be back to complete functionality within the week. This gave you time to look around your cell. Despite the otherwise quality treatment, you hadn’t been moved to another room, just given an old mattress to sleep on and a thin blanket. When you could, you looked around for anything that would aid you in your escape. However, the sheer small size of the room prevented you from being able to pilfer any of the equipment your “doctor” brought in with him. The camera was positioned to give a complete view of your cell. You were effectively fucked in the escape department, and as the days passed you grew more and more desperate. You tried asking about Jared a couple times, just to gauge on what you could expect when your week was up, but the uncomfortable looks that passed across the faces of those you interacted with only had a bigger pit of fear forming in your gut.

              There was no escape from your cell, at least for the moment. The night you were finally cleared of your concussion, you couldn’t sleep. You feared what the morning would bring. When you finally did manage to pass out from sheer exhaustion, it wasn’t for very long before  _his_  voice rang back out over your speaker, accompanied by a few guards bursting into your cell and restraining you on your knees in the middle of the room again.

              “Time’s up, my dear! I’m so glad you recovered okay; I was just  _terribly_  worried about you the whole week! I sure hope you thought about my request of you earlier. The information you have about the League would just be the cherry on top of the cake of seeing you healthy again.”

              “Go fuck yourself.” You spat. Your body was gripped with fear, but like hell you would give up anything about your family, about your friends or the rest of the League.

              “Ah but I was so hoping that you’d be grateful for everything I’ve done for you that you’d just give me the information. Oh well, I guess we have to do this the hard way then. Boys?  _No permanent damage._ ”

              As soon as the words left his mouth, the four guards in the room with you moved in. They wasted no time in taking turns holding you down while one would rain down punches and kicks. As soon as one got his fill, it would switch to the next. Every time there would be a brief pause, as the man in the speaker asked you again for you to give up the information you had. Each time you found a new and more creative way to tell him to fuck off, and the cycle would continue. Time became a blur as the beatings continued. If you had to guess, by the time your body ached with every slight movement and the blood bubbling past your lips, it was hours at the least.

              That was how they left you, on the cusp of what would constitute as permanent damage. That night you just lied there, the strength to move beaten out of you. You felt the tears pebble in the corners of your eyes as the night continued on, exhausted but in too much pain to drift into unconsciousness. You didn’t want to cry, least of all in front of him. You didn’t want to give him any satisfaction. Your tears didn’t fall that night, but they would before long.

              Your days continued much in the same way as the first. The only inkling you had of time passing at all was the meals brought to your cell. Most days you barely had the strength left to drag yourself over to the tray slid under the door. Your body was supporting multiple dark bruises now, and quite possibly a multitude of fractures. Each day had brought new means of torture for you, increasing in intensity while still falling just short of that line. Occasionally you noticed the guards would be different after some time. As if reading your thoughts, you heard the boss’ voice over the loudspeaker. “Gotta switch them out every now and again! They get mean the more you make them do it. I can’t have them breaking you before you spill the beans after all!” You almost wanted them to cross it, anything to give you a reprieve from the hell you were subjected to. Each time he would ask you to give up what you knew, and you still refused. It was the only thing you had, and no matter what your personal issues was with your family, you would never betray them.

              That night, as you lie there in the middle of your cell, cold, bruised, bloody, wet -they had decided to try out waterboarding earlier that day- you finally broke down in tears. Your mind kept replaying the looks of devastation on Dick’s face, on Wally’s. Sometimes your mind would slip in a few of your more pleasant memories of your childhood, back when your relationship with your brother was a lot better, when he seemed to care about you. You weren’t sure if those helped or if they only hurt you more.

              You wondered if you were ever going to see them again. You wondered if you were going to break before then. Nothing in this place made much sense. The voice on the speaker, the boss -you had still never gotten a name- refused to take off your mask and costume. He wanted you to give the information as voluntarily as you could in your situation. At your darkest, you found yourself hoping that your family, your friends, your team, that everyone would be okay if you died in here.

              You weren’t sure how many more days you spent in a haze of pain in that cell when you could just barely make out the sounds of commotion echoing through the halls. You forced your head up off the ground, looking up at the locked door as you tried to make sense of what was going on.

              “Well, my dear. It looks like our time might just about be up for now.” The voice rang out over the static of the speaker. He sounded angry, dangerous under the thin layer of over-sweetness you had become used to hearing from him. You had a lot of questions, but you were in too much pain to put any voice to them for the moment. Thankfully, he continued on. “It looks like your little League buddies managed to find you after all.” You almost didn’t believe him, but the sounds were getting louder as they drew closer, you could distinctly make out the sounds of fighting through the solid metal of the door. Your immense rush of relief was abruptly cut short however, as he spoke once again. “But don’t you worry, my sweet. We aren’t done yet, I’ll come back for you when I can. There’s still so much I can learn from you, and you owe me from keeping those brutes from hurting you too bad.” With that, the speaker cut out for the final time. As it did so, gas started pouring in from the vents in the ceiling of your room. You tried to hold your breath, but your injuries prevented you from being able to hold out. Your vision quickly started fading in and out, and you finally lost consciousness as the door to your cell opened.

 *****

              When you woke up, it was to a room you were unfamiliar with. You moved to sit upright but your body screaming in agony halted your attempts before you could even begin. You took in your surroundings. You were currently in a bed, the sheets pulled up to about the middle of your chest. Admittedly you were rather comfortable despite the aches in every limb. The walls were a faded green, a TV sat on top of a dresser in a corner to your left. A vanity was next to that and a third dresser was on the opposite side of the room on your right next to a bookshelf. Pictures hung on the walls, but the room was too dim to make most of them out. They very easily could have just been framed paintings if you were being honest. The room smelled faintly of lavender and medical supplies, which caused you to suddenly look down at your body in alarm as the memories came flooding back to your mind. Your hand ripped back the blankets covering you, your mind reeling at the sight of the medical bandages covering your form and the dark bruising in between them. Most important, you weren’t in costume, and a quick brush of your fingers against your face confirmed that your mask was gone as well.

              A groan of pain slipped past your lips from all the sudden movement, and on cue, the door to your right opened. Your eyes widened when you recognized Black Canary walking in, and you managed to relax with the knowledge, though you were still brimming with questions.

              “I brought you some water. I won’t ask how you’re feeling. I can take a good enough guess by looking at you.” She pulled up a chair and helped you into a sitting position. It took a lot of effort, but you were thankful when you did, gulping the offered water down as your dry throat made itself known. Looking down at your right arm, you could see the portion of the IV called the “cannula” still taped to your body. You don’t know where the rest of the IV was.

              “Where am I?” You managed to ask.  You had to clear your throat several times before the words would come out.

              “You’re currently in the guest room of my apartment.” You raised your eyebrow, and Canary took that as her chance to continue. “After you ran out when you woke up from the failsafe mission, the rest of the team gave their reports on what went wrong. It was determined amongst the League -except for your uncle- that until we could perform a formal investigation into your living conditions, you would be placed with one of us once we found you.”

              “Why?”

              “Emotional abuse and neglect is just as serious as physical. This was to make sure more harm wasn’t being done until we could determine if it was safe to keep you with your parents or to look for another option for you.” You didn’t really know what to say. Your mind was still reeling from your ordeal and now from the information Canary had given you.

              “Thank you.” It just as lame to say as it sounded, but you couldn’t think of anything else. “How… how did you guys even find me?”

              She sighed. “Robin. He dropped the emergency beacon, but the League didn’t arrive fast enough to save you before you were gone. He gave Batman all the information the two of you had gathered and then left with Robin to reprimand him for helping you this whole time and not coming to the League immediately after finding you.” She looked like she wanted to say more but shook her head.

              Batman soon entered the room, causing you to tense in apprehension. He always did intimidate you a little, even more so now that you knew you were probably going to get in big trouble for acting how you did. “It’s good to see you awake, maybe you could answer some of the questions we have regarding your captors.” Canary gave him a glare, but he didn’t flinch, turning to her instead. “Dinah you know as well as I do that the sooner we catch the people responsible, the better. All of this is time sensitive.” She seemed unhappy but made no more move to stop him.

              “You were pretty bad when we finally did get to you, but the doctor we had looking over you noticed there weren’t any breaks, would you mind explaining that if you could?”

              “The people that had me, they wanted me to give up the information I had on all of you willingly. I guess making sure I wasn’t too seriously injured was part of that plan.”

              “They wanted you to think you owed them the information. They treated you well at first, then made sure a line wasn’t crossed. They wanted to like them, or they wanted you to fear how bad they could get so you’d tell them what they wanted to know.” You just nodded at Batman’s explanation. It made perfect sense to you.  

              “Did you get the leader of the Brass Ravens?”

              “No, but we did find writing on the wall of his office.”

              “What did it say?”

              “Quoth the Raven ‘Nevermore.’” Batman looked to you for an answer.

              You sighed. “I asked him what his name was you know, early on. I guess he actually did give me an answer after all. ‘Nevermore.’”

              He nodded. “I’ll put it in the file. For now, you’ll stay here with Canary. Until we can determine what your situation will be, all contact with your brother and family will be cut off so as not to potentially cause any more damage between both parties. Try to get some rest.” With that, he left. Dinah left shortly after, going into the kitchen to get you some food for you to eat after your stomach had growled loudly. Leslie Thompkins -the doctor the League trusted with their identities- would be back in the morning to do a check up now that you were awake.

              Later that night, you found you couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t from the pain of your body, though that could have been a small factor. It was from the situation you had found yourself in. There was a chance that you would never see your family again, never have to deal with always being second in comparison to your brother. Once upon a time that had been your wish when you had found yourself at your lowest, but now that it was an actual possibility? Your heart felt conflicted. A part of you still loved your family, loved your brother despite all the things you had gone through. A part of you just wished that Wally was here right now to comfort you like he used to before he ever got his powers. You weren’t sure how you were supposed to feel in this moment.

              There was a lot you needed to say, not just to Wally, but also to Dick. You needed to apologize to him, tell him that you hoped he could still forgive you after what you did. You hoped that things weren’t ruined between the two of you.

              This time you’d tell him that you loved him, and not a death simulation, nor some gang would take that away from you.


End file.
